Stefan Vetter Sylvaner GK 2019
Type: White
Country: Germany
Region: Franken
Grape Variety: 100% Silvaner
Viticulture: Natural Wine | Biodynamic | Organic Farming
Climate: Continental climate with defined seasons and harsh winters
Terroir: 50 years old vines grow on barren shell limestone soil that is located on small, parcelled and steeped terraces that tower high up
Winemaking: After the harvest, the Silvaner grapes are pressed with a basket press and go directly into used wooden barrels, where they ferment spontaneously and after about a year they go into the bottle with a minimal amount of sulfur
Color: Bright golden
Nose: On the nose, it starts with a hint of reduction, and delicate smokiness, but opens up very quickly with air, a hint of waxiness and a little more ripeness comes through, bacon pear and melon, but also cool herbal notes, sage, almost a hint of eucalyptus, constantly fluctuating between ripe and cool and has an insane complexity
Palate: On the palate, the wine starts with fresh acidity and a fine-grained texture, ripe apricot and grapefruit, good grip and stony minerality, lingers wonderfully and is incredibly profound, demanding and animated until the end
About the Winery:
Stefan Vetter is punk rock. He has done nothing that has even the slightest commercial logic to it. His old friend Andreas Adam (of the celebrated Mosel estate A.J. Adam) must shake his head, watching Stefan, like a wild hermit, run himself up into the terraced vineyards of Franconia. Yet from a scant few hectares of old terraced vineyards, Stefan is redefining what Sylvaner can be.
Stefan is at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Germany. As such, he farms both organically and biodynamically, working only old vines in steep, terraced sites. Pressing is done gently and can take four to six hours. The juice may see a short bit of skin contact, but for the most part, it is just moved directly into old barrels. Stefan has bought 300 and 600-litre barrels from Stockinger. During the elevage, the wine is topped off but that’s about it. The wines are bottled without fining or filtering.
